Instincts
by iluvaqt
Summary: AU-ish, S10 up to Isis. Circumstances might keep them apart, but Chloe's never stopped watching over her knight.


**Title:** Instincts  
**Pairing:** Chlollie  
**Summary**: Circumstances might keep them apart, but Chloe's never stopped watching over her knight.  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word count:** 2257  
**Setting:** AU-ish, S10 up to Isis.  
**Birthday gift for :** **slytherinpunk**  
**With thanks for the Beta**: **fickery**

Aside from being prompted to write something for Sly, I noticed **maud26** 's idea that maybe Chloe's been working with Birds of Prey and this short was born.

**Warnings: **creative liberties taken with DC canon.

**Disclaimer:** "_Smallville_" is the property of WarnerBros & The CW. Everything else belongs to DC Comics. No infringement of copyright is intended.

- 8 -

Since coming out he'd avoided being out in public if he could help it. As much as he appreciated how the general public seemed to be embracing his alter ego, it didn't bring the relief or satisfaction he'd hoped to feel being free of his secret, his dual identity.

Bo "Bibbo" Bibbowski had called him up earlier in the week and promised him that tonight would be the best night to get out and enjoy some night life. Bibbo was the new owner of Ace of Clubs and made no secret of the fact that he was The Blur's and Green Arrow's biggest supporter. It didn't hurt either that Oliver had frequently used the establishment for business and private functions before coming out. Bibbo said that tonight was Black Light Tuesday and Metropolis' biggest up-and-coming DJ was going to be ripping it up all night. At a private table he could enjoy a drink or two at his favorite watering hole without being disturbed, while finally tearing himself out of his cave at LuthorCorp for something other than regular business or Green Arrow business.

So here he was, walking in the back door, jacket and tie gone, left in a button down black silk shirt and pair of tailored dark gray pants, ready for a night off.

Tess had him on speed dial if anything came up, with John and Clark officially on duty tonight.

He surveyed the room. Bibbo wasn't blowing smoke saying the kid was a rising star; the dance floor was crowded and the pulsing white lights cutting through the black light were creating a hypnotic effect.

Seems there was a dress code he wasn't aware of. There were a lot of fluorescent clothes, silver wigs and fair-haired patrons in the sea of bodies gyrating to the music. He headed for the bar-the only place lit constantly and not threatening to send him into a seizure.

A shoulder bumped into him and he caught a flash of dark colored hair. It could have been red or brown. He turned quickly but the person had disappeared before he could apologize for not watching his surroundings better. His chest tightened and his heart skipped a beat as the phantom sensation of that shoulder bumping his arm caused a wave of deja vu to wash over him. He'd felt that shoulder before; it left exactly the same impression against his body. His arm still tingled, not in pain, but awareness where they'd made contact.

He searched the crowd again for this dark-haired mystery person, his stomach twisting painfully that he hadn't instinctively grabbed them, just to steady them. Knowing that would have given him a chance to confirm his suspicions.

The longer he scanned the crowd the more foolish he felt. He was projecting. He wanted to see her, he needed to see her so he was creating connections that didn't exist. Feeling lightheaded and foolish, he motioned for the bartender.

"The usual?"

"Make it a double. I'll be over there," he said motioning to the vacant lounge area Bibbo had reserved for him. Falling into the seat, he put his hand into his trouser pocket to dig out his money clip so he could give the waitress and bartender a tip and pay for the drink, when he noticed a neatly folded piece of paper he'd pulled out along with it.

With a frown, he opened the note, his frown deepening when he read the neatly printed black script. It was a complex-looking chemical formula. He was no science brain but thanks to his high school chemistry he could recognize elements when he saw them. He turned the piece of paper over, hoping for an answer to the riddle. It simply read, 'For the bug in the hero.'

Emil would know what to do with the information. Whatever it was.

There was no distinguishing style to the handwriting but as he re-read the message, the light bulb when off in his head. Flagg had bugged him. Deadshot had managed to bug Clark. Who knows how many others they'd tagged. Tess was working on searching for a way to disable the implant but so far she hadn't had any breakthroughs. He had never doubted his instincts before. He was sure now more than ever that it was Chloe who had bumped into him earlier.

Now if only he had a way to prove his gut feeling. He shoved the note into his pants, left a fifty under the glass vase on the coffee table and headed for Bibbo's office. Ace of Clubs had cameras; if he had any luck, they'd be able to get something off the surveillance feed. He was praying they could. It would be the first confirmation he had that she was still alive. And if she was still alive, he could hope that someday, somehow they'd find their way back to each other.

From her perch above the skylight, where she could see him clearly through the glass, Chloe touched her finger to her earpiece. "Message delivered. Ready for extraction."

"Roger that, transport is on the way."

There was a brief flash of light behind her and Chloe smiled. "Thanks for the assist."

Courtney smiled. "Anytime. Sisters stick together. I'm glad you're okay."

They hugged quickly before Courtney stretched out her staff and Chloe grasped it.

"You know, he'll be okay," Courtney said tilting her head indicating toward Oliver.

Chloe allowed her a sad smile. "I just wish he didn't have to go through it at all."

"Men. Can't live with 'em. Can't live without 'em."

Chloe laughed. "You've been hanging around the girls too long. What are they teaching you?"

Courtney grinned and shrugged. "I can kick ass with the best of 'em. I'd like to give Carter a go but he's disappeared on me."

Chloe frowned. "We should get Barbara to look into that. Before they targeted the League they were after you guys. They might have gotten to Carter, even in Africa."

"I'll fill her in when we get back. You could use some down time."

Chloe rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yes, Mom."

.

**Three months prior**

Dinah lay flat on the container roof, her black leather blending seamlessly against the night sky. She used her night-vision binoculars to scour the docks for movement around the suspected holding location.

When Chloe had pinged her about this op, she'd nearly dropped her PDA. She'd definitely cursed at the screen. Being all the way in Greece there was nothing she could do. She'd tried calling Bart but the speedster wasn't picking up his phone, so she'd called Barbara instead.

After she'd decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and take up the Black Canary mantle, Barbara had become something of a mentor for her- studying under Batman since she was a teenager, even at only three years her senior, Barbara had a lot more fighting experience, technical knowledge and the analytical smarts to solve any crisis in a third of the time she could. She also had a master's in Library Science with two minors in computer programming and physics and she was working on her PhD. If she wasn't deadly with just about any object, Dinah would have called her a nerd and a bookworm to her face. Her own background in radio journalism seemed completely inadequate for her real line of work.

So she'd trained with Ted "Wildcat" Grant as a kid, big woop. She still had a long way to go if she hoped to become the expertly trained master of several fighting styles that Barbara was. Well, before the Joker had taken her legs, anyway. Her internal musings stopped abruptly when she caught sight of the guards converging on a pair of double doors opening.

"We've got movement," she said into her radio.

_"Her vitals crashed out two minutes ago. The clock's running. Safehouse is ready."_

"Come on, come on," Dinah chanted agitatedly.

Chloe would have taken the antidote before she handed herself over. After crushing the cyanide pill, the effects would have been immediate, before the antidote could start neutralizing the poison. Her lungs would have seized and her heart would have stopped beating, but give it five minutes, give or take, and she'd be able to breathe again. They were counting on them dumping her body quickly, so no one would notice. But it would be almost impossible for Chloe to come back from death quietly, the urge to gasp for air immediately an impulse one couldn't control.

Two guards pitched a black body bag over the side of the dock and turned back to the warehouse, the others returning to their rounds.

"Package is in the water. Going to collect. Star Girl, home in on my signal," Dinah said running along the tops of containers to get to the water's edge and across the bay. What she wouldn't give for an assist from AC right now.

She pulled out her grapple gun and fired a line across the water, watching it anchor in a thick wooden post on the other side. Attaching it to her harness, she took to the water and flipped onto her back, activating the recoil. Closing her eyes against the thumping, thrashing water at her back and spray in her face, she reached the other side in what felt like far too long. Pulling on her diving mask, she activated night-vision and took a breath, diving into the murky blackness, searching for the bag.

In the time it had taken her to reach the point Chloe had been dropped, the bag had drifted but Dinah could see a shape struggling in the distance. She swam over, and using her knife, she tore open a slit. Chloe's hand grabbed her wrist immediately and together they kicked for the surface. Once Chloe was safely holding a beam, Dinah went back for the bag. They couldn't leave any trace behind.

"Oracle, we're ready."

A second later there was a flash of light, and Dinah instinctively grabbed out, clamping her hand over Courtney's mouth before she could scream. When she was sure the girl's fright at getting dunked was over, Dinah let her go. She turned back in time to see Chloe's head slip under the water. "We need to get back to base now," Dinah hissed, wiping the matted hair from Chloe's pale face.

"Hold on, Grumpy," Courtney said, pouting and shivering.

Back at the base, Barbara was chewing Dinah out for not following protocol and Courtney was shivering, sipping a hot chocolate, watching them both argue while working on Chloe.

"I brought her here because I suck at first aid, and the safe house wasn't equipped for this. She assured me the antidote would work," Dinah fumed.

"Well, she didn't account for hypothermia and physical injury making it harder for her body to resist the poison and the antidote to work, did she?" Barbara hissed back. "She's stable; clean up, because we're moving her in two minutes."

Courtney looked up in alarm. "Moving her? Why can't she stay here?"

"I don't know her. And while I'm sure she's trustworthy, we don't know if she's been compromised. We follow procedure on this."

Dinah turned and stomped down the stairs to change. Courtney just pulled the edges of the throw tighter around herself watching Chloe's still form silently. Her suit was almost dry, one of the benefits of spandex. She could see the slow rise and fall of Chloe's chest and despite her gray complexion and bluish lips, she had to trust Barbara's word that Chloe would be okay. She had to be. She was the closest thing she had to a sister, and they'd just started being really good friends. Her heart twisted at the thought of how close she'd come to losing her forever.

Dinah came back and stopped by the examination table, her hand hovering over Chloe's lightly. "Hang in there, Chlo."

"She's going to be okay, right?" Courtney asked, her voice wavering.

Dinah nodded. "She's the strongest person I know. Let's get going, before Oracle gets her knickers in a knot."

A few hours later, Chloe sat up feeling overly warm and sticky. She grimaced and scrubbed her hand over her face, her mouth dry and her tongue feeling thick and cotton wool-y.

"Here," Dinah said, passing her an uncapped bottle of water.

Chloe took it and drank it down gratefully. "I guess it goes without saying that I owe you big time?" She looked at her friend sheepishly.

Dinah snorted. "No kidding. And yes, even though I think it's stupid, I will keep your whereabouts secret. For now," she warned. "You've gotta let the rest of the team know you're okay when we get a handle on this situation with whoever those guys are."

Chloe nodded. "You mean Ollie," she said quietly.

Dinah sighed. "We both know he's crazy about you. And he'll lose his head without you."

Chloe smiled and tilted her head regarding Dinah thoughtfully. "Well, we'll just have to figure out a way to keep him from going completely off the rails then. I'm sure between you and me, and that team I know you had helping us, we'll figure something out."

Dinah took one look at the mischievous twinkle in Chloe's eyes and had to laugh. She'd just died and already she was plotting some master plan. Not to mention the fact that she'd already clued into her working with Barbara. Never underestimate a pixie blonde who'd seen fate through the eyes of a god.

FIN


End file.
